Photos and the City

Tag: Napoli

Spaccanapoli

After saying goodbye to the Museo di Capodimonte I walked back town to Spaccanapoli – the old town of Napoli. I walked without a plan and just got lost in the little alleys.

Spaccanapoli – the old town of Napoli – the beating heart of the city and a place named of “Outstanding Universal Value” by the UNESCO.

Its origins go back to its foundation as Parthenope or Palaepolis in the 9th century B.C., subsequently re-established as Neapolis (New City) in 470 B.C. It is therefore one of the most ancient cities in Europe, whose current urban fabric preserves a selection of outstanding elements of its long and eventful history, as expressed in its street pattern, its wealth of historic buildings and parks, the continuation of many of its urban and social functions, its wonderful setting on the Bay of Naples and the continuity of its historical stratification. (UNESCO)

09/05/2019
Real Bosco di Capodimonte

The view from my Airbnb in Naples never let me down! The next morning I woke up, had some coffee and made my way through the Quarteri Spagnoli in direction of the Castel Nuovo. From there I wanted to take a bus up to the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte.

My favourite fruttivendolo just around the corner from my apartment.

I met some demonstrations, this was number one with mostly students in front of the Municipio.

Found the Castel Nuovo, the bus that would bring me to the Real Bosco di Capodimonte and another demonstration. It was a busy day for Naples!

Real Bosco di Capodimonte

The vast collection at the museum traces its origins back to 1738. During that year King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III, king of Spain) decided to build a hunting lodge on the Capodimonte hill, but then decided that he would instead build a grand palace,…to house the fabulous Farnese art collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, last descendant of the sovereign ducal family of Parma. (Wikipedia)

Later on, the collection was getting bigger and bigger, the palace had to be enlarged. Today you could probably spend a few days at the museum to explore everything. It´s way too much for a single visit!

The Capodimonte Museum boasts 47,000 works of art that form one of the largest and most complex collections of medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary art in the world. In 126 galleries spread across 151,000 square feet, works of the great artists are exhibited such as: Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Simone Martini, Giovanni Bellini, Colantonio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Jusepe de Ribera, Battistello, Luca Giordano, Mattia Preti, Francesco Solimena, the Carracci, Guido Reni, Lanfranco, Bruegel the Elder, and Van Dyck to name a few. (Arts & Culture)

The museum is surrounded by a vast park and offers an amazing view over the bay of Naples. Even more dramatic with a rain front coming in all of the sudden!

07/05/2019
Pompeii

The year before I had already visited Herculaneum so it was about time to visit Pompeii, the ancient Roman city.

The city has re-emerged from the darkness of centuries precisely as it would have been when it was unexpectedly buried in the thick layer of ash and lava which poured down from the devastating eruption of Vesuvius. It was the year 79 A.D. (Pompeii Online)

Buried in 79 A.D. and rediscovered in 1748, when a group of explorers discovered Pompeii almost intact under the layers of dust and debris.

Situated about eight kilometres from Vesuvio Pompeii was a flourishing resort for Rome’s most distinguished citizens and attracted many wealthy visitors.

Elegant houses and elaborate villas lined the paved streets. Tourists, townspeople and slaves bustled in and out of small factories and artisans’ shops, taverns and cafes, and brothels and bathhouses. People gathered in the 20,000-seat arena and lounged in the open-air squares and marketplaces. (history.com)

Pompeii remained mostly untouched until 1748, when a group of explorers looking for ancient artifacts arrived in Campania and began to dig. They found that the ashes had acted as a marvelous preservative: Underneath all that dust, Pompeii was almost exactly as it had been 2,000 years before. Its buildings were intact. Skeletons were frozen right where they’d fallen. Everyday objects and household goods littered the streets. Later archaeologists even uncovered jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread! (history.com)

Pompeii (like Herculaneum) offers a snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment and shows the everyday life of its citizens.

The walls of the houses are covered with electoral propaganda messages or risque jokes aimed at particular citizens. The signs on the shop doorways indicate the activity carried out there or the name of the owner. Alongside the elegant villas belonging to the nobility and the luxurious residences of the middle class, stand modest houses where several families lived.
The peasant dwellings on the other hand are situated around vegetable gardens or small plots of land. (Pomeii Online)

The House of the Venus in a Shell.

I think I spend almost the whole day walking around Pompeii and still haven´t seen all of it, there is so much to explore and to visit. And it´s a kind of strange feeling walking around an area where so many people have died but also very interesting – very mixed feelings about this.

Even I visited Pompeii in October there were still many people around and the parking place was very full, I would recommend using public transport to visit. There are trains and buses going there. And bring sunscreen, water and comfortable shoes!

30/04/2019